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>Random thought: before the Internet were reviews any better? Before the internet, there were these things called "magazines". These magazines earned money by
by DaveExeter 5y ago
>Random thought: before the Internet were reviews any better?
Before the internet, there were these things called "magazines". These magazines earned money by selling ads.
Advertisers sold products that were reviewed in the magazines they advertised in. And if a magazine's review was unfavorable to an advertisers product, that advertiser could reduce their ad spending.
Also, advertisers could "bribe" reviewers. Probably not with direct cash payments, but it was generally expected that a reviewer would be "gifted" the product reviewed.
So, this has always be a problem.
- topkai22 5y agoYeah, but there was/is more balance when the magazine had to keep its overall readership up and quite possibly had a manufacturer’s competitive advertising as well. Advertisers could influence reviews, especially to keep from getting a super low review, but I don’t recall stupendous reviews for absolute rubbish.
- PaulDavisThe1st 5y agoIn many fields, though, there were the magazines that everbody knew were bought and sold by advertisers, and those that weren't. In my domain, Sound on Sound (about pro-audio and music creation tech) is in the latter category, and has been for decades. Even the advertisers know it, and seem willing to deal with the periodic "actually, the new Foo from Bar is mostly a piece of junk that you will not want to buy" because it makes the "wow, the new Baz from Bomb is totally awesome and you will use it everyday".